Today in History - April 17: Crowd boos as stuntman nearly killed in baseball stadium

A daredevil stuntman nearly died in front of a booing baseball crowd in Philadelphia on April 17, 1972.

As part of the season opener, the Phillies booked a stunt performer who would slide down a ramp in the upper deck of the stadium with a massive hang-glider, sail off the edge, and deliver the game ball for the opening pitch.

A massive ramp was built, and advertisements went out promoting "Kiteman".

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But the opening game was delayed because of a players' strike, and the stunt performer was unable to make the rescheduled game.

Instead, the experienced stuntman was committed to teaching the Mexican president how to waterski.

The man tasked with promotions at the Phillies, Bill Giles, found a hardware store owner with some kite-flying experience to do the stunt. 

The replacement stuntman was not willing to risk his life for $US1000. But he said yes for US$1500.

Despite the risk, he refused to do a practice run.

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"If I'm going to kill myself, I want someone other than just you watching me," he told Giles.

When the day finally came, 38,000 fans were on hand to watch the stunt.

But the Kiteman was frozen in fear when the moment came. As he stood at the top of the ramp, paralysed in terror, the crowd started to boo.

Eventually, he began his run, sliding down the ramp at speed. But about halfway down, he was picked up by a gust of wind and thrown hard into the stands.

"I thought he was dead," Giles said later.

The near-fatal accident didn't stop the Phillies crowd from booing even louder.

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The failed stunt was a bad omen for the team, which finished the season last in National League East.

Nevertheless, Kiteman came back to reattempt his stunt several other times. 

The failure became a tradition, and the crowd would cheer when the stunt went awry.

When Kiteman finally succeeded in landing in the outfield in 1990, the disappointed crowd booed.

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